Posts Tagged ‘swedish’

 

Swedish style tofu balls

Monday, May 12th, 2008

I’m still here! Life has just been kind of shit lately and I’ve had a lot on my mind. Ever since my mum’s neck and arms got bad I’ve been feeling moody and things haven’t been great.

I’ve had fun times too. Lots of them! And these last two weeks have been sunny and warm. I’m a positive person, really!

Today we had a really lovely lunch. Every now and then I get cravings for Swedish food, like I used to have when I was younger and ate meat. Today was one of those days so I decided we’d have some tofuballs with lingonberries, potatoes and gravy. Boy, am I ever glad I made that decision.

Tofuballs, potatoes, gravy and lingonberries

It was a simple meal and didn’t take very long. I suppose most people can’t get lingonberries but these babies would be good with cranberries, or blackcurrant jelly… or a red onion jelly maybe. The gravy was just gravy granules mixed with stock, some milk and a little bit of soy sauce and black pepper. Potatoes are boiled and then lightly buttered and salted.

Delicious ‘Swedish’ Tofuballs: 4 servings

  • 1 pack of tofu 500 gr (17.5 oz)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tbsp dried herbs
  • 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 0.5 tsp liquid smoke
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tsp marmite (optional)
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/8 tsp allspice
  • Black pepper to taste
  • 0.75 dl (1/3 cup) breadcrumbs/panko
  • 3 tbsp gluten flour (vital wheat gluten)
  • Olive oil spray

Crumble the tofu and squeeze some of the water out. Chop onions and garlic finely.

Put all the ingredients in a big bowl and mix WELL. You want to work the gluten for a while. Form into smallish balls (the small ones are tastier!) and put on a baking tray with parchment paper. Spray them lightly with oil and bake them at 225C (440F) in the oven for about 25 - 30 mins. Take them out when they are browned and firm.

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Posted in Uncategorized | 12 Comments »

 

Simple cardamom cake

Sunday, December 16th, 2007

I love baking, and cooking too. But baking has a special place in my heart. The summer when I was 14 we moved to a new house and I didn’t have any friends. It was the summer holiday in between semesters and I just didn’t know anyone in this new place we lived. I spent the entire summer reading semi erotic fantasy novels (47 of them!) and baking cookies and cakes until we were all ready to burst from all the baked goods. I piled on the pounds but it was still nice. However, I didn’t bake this cake that summer, I know that for sure. It’s a very simple and incredibly tasty cardamom cake that requires little work but really delivers. I couldn’t get any good photos of it, when I last baked it the sun had already set and I am too tired to make a new one. Instead I give you this photoshopped version, it’s a cardamom girl cake!

Cardamom cake

This cake is really good just the way it is. Or you can slice it and serve it with some fruit salad and soy cream. Either way it’s absolutely delish! It’s an old fashioned Swedish recipe that doesn’t use eggs, so veganizing it was a no-brainer. It’s also not incredibly sweet but has fantastic flavour.

Cardamom cake:

  • 125 g (½cup) vegan margarine
  • 300 ml (1 1/4 cups) sugar
  • 2 tsp ground cardamom
  • 250 ml (1 cup + 2 tsp) soy milk
  • 500 ml (2 cups + 1 tbsp) flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder

Turn the oven on to 180 C. Melt margarine in a pot. Turn of the heat and add sugar, cardamom and milk into the margarine. Sift together the flour and the baking powder and add to the wet mix. Stir carefully with a whisk until the lumps are gone (but don’t overmix it).  Grease and flour a pan. It looks cuter in a bundt pan but a normal sponge cake pan will do just fine. Pour batter into a the cake pan and bake in the middle of the oven for about 45 minutes or until the cake is golden and a toothpick inserted to the centre comes out clean. When the cake is done, let cool for about 5 minutes then flip onto a plate. Remove the pan while the cake is still warm and let it cool completely. Let mature in a bag for a day before eating, it tastes even better if you do!

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Posted in baked goods, sweet, vegan | 13 Comments »

 

Vegan checkerboard cookies

Monday, October 8th, 2007

We were going to a party on Saturday night and everyone there was supposed to bring something baked and delicious. I made some pretty fab coconut cupcakes frosted with a lemon icing (from VwaV). As a present for the birthday girl I bought a nice stoneware jar, light blue with polka dots and filled it with simple checkerboard cookies. I spent the day slaving away in a hot kitchen, no time to wash my hair, put on make up or be fancy in any way. Although I did make up for that later, the photo shows a less charming me.

First a photo of the cupcakes. They were lovely and Alex ended up eating about a third of them.

Coconut cupcakes with lemon frosting

It never ceases to amaze me just how vegan friendly some of our old Swedish cookies are. I KNOW you have checkerboard cookies in other countries too, but it’s also a very Swedish thing. Many recipes are so simple, no eggs, no milk, just butter/margarine. Hey, that’s almost too easy! I flipped through a Swedish cookies and cakes classic, we’ve had it in my home since forever. In Swedish it’s called Sju sorters kakor. Not long ago they translated the book to English, it’s called Swedish Cakes and Cookies. This recipe is from that book, the only thing I changed was the margarine, mine’s vegan, theirs isn’t. It’s one of those recipes that doesn’t even belong to a certain author or anything anymore, it’s so old and well used it’s public property now. They’re not terribly sweet, but they’re lovely with coffee or tea.

Who needs to wash their hair, there are cookies to be made!

Swedish checkerboard cookies: makes LOTS and LOTS!

  • 450 - 500 ml (1 3/4 cups + 2 tbsp - 2 cups) wheat flour
  • 100 ml (1/3 cup + 1 tbsp) sugar
  • 200 g (2 sticks) vegan margarine
  • 2 tsp vanilla sugar or 1 tsp vanilla essence (but make sure to use a little more flour!)
  • 2 tbsp cocoa powder

Mix together the sugar, margarine and flour until it forms a ball. (Kind of like when you’re making a pie crust). Divide the dough in two parts and mix each part with a flavouring. One of the doughs with cocoa and the other one with vanilla. Divide each dough into two pieces and roll them out to two rolls (I made three of each because I am hardcore!). Put two different coloured rolls next to each other and put two more on top of that making a checkerboard pattern. Press it a little so the doughs stick together and wrap it in plastic film. refrigerate for a little while. Turn the oven on to 200C (390F). Take the log out of the fridge and cut into 3-4 mm (1/6 inch or so) slices. Put on a baking paper on top of a baking tray and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes. Let cool. Enjoy!

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Posted in UNhealthy, baked goods, soup, vegan | 9 Comments »